Exporting from Flash to Fireworks

Fireworks is the perfect tool for working with images exported from Flash. You may need to export images as an alternative for users who don’t have Flash, for use in other applications, or as previews or thumbnails of a Flash movie. Fireworks can be used for scaling, color adjustment, or Web compression optimization. Using the Batch Process feature discussed in Hour 18, “Batch Processing and Configuration Sharing,” you can process whole directories of images at once.

To export an image file from Flash, choose the frame that you would like to export on the Timeline or within a symbol. Choose Export Image from the File menu in Flash. Choose a format for export. If you want to preserve vectors for editing in Fireworks, choose the EPS or Adobe Illustrator formats. If you want a flat bitmap image, choose PNG, JPEG, GIF, or Bitmap BMP. After choosing a file name and clicking Save, you will be asked for the image dimensions and format settings. The options for PNG export are shown in Figure 13.16. Choose Minimum Image Area if you want the image trimmed to contain only the objects on the Flash Canvas. Choose Full Document Size if you want the entire area of the Flash Canvas. Set the compression and file options, and click OK to continue.